Tag Archives: Sugar Cookies

Still feeling pleased with my recent baking win, I wanted to try my hand at a similar recipe, these London Fog Sugar Cookies. The cookie part was pretty much the same, and I am a sucker for anything with Earl Grey tea and fresh vanilla. Since we’re currently in what will most likely be our last cold snap of the season, I couldn’t think of a better time to whip up something that pairs great with a hot mug of something.

Ingredients

¼ cup granulated sugar

¼ cup confectioner’s (icing) sugar

½ vanilla bean pod, split and seeds removed

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 egg

1 and ½ cups all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon Earl Grey tea leaves (I just cut open one teabag and measured from there)

½ teaspoon baking powder

Pinch of salt

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons decorating sugar (for rolling, optional)

Directions

In a small bowl or dish, combine the granulated sugar, icing sugar and vanilla bean seeds. Using your hands, rub the seeds into the sugar to evenly distribute them throughout.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter with the vanilla sugar mixture. Add egg and vanilla and mix until blended well.

Add the flour, tea leaves, baking powder and salt and mix to combine into a soft dough.

On a clean work surface, roll the dough into a log. Roll log in decorating sugar (if using). Wrap log tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, and up to 24 hours until ready to bake.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F and lightly grease a baking sheet. Slice chilled dough into ¼-inch thick slices. Bake until the edges are light brown and the middles set, about 6-8 minutes. Be aware that the bottoms will brown long before the sides or tops do, so don’t over bake!

Cool for 2 minutes on the baking sheets, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Will keep covered at room temperature for 1-2 days.

Notes:

Since the Thyme Cookies were so surprisingly wonderful, I had really high hopes for this recipe. Before I get all nit-picky, I want to say this was a solidly good recipe; the problem was that I wasn’t wanting merely “good” I wanted “fantastic”.

The biggest issue I had with this recipe was flavor. Not that these had a bad flavor, they were just a little bland. The vanilla was very subtle and the earl grey, well if I hadn’t made them myself, I wouldn’t have known it was in there. They were perfectly fine with an accompanying strong cup of tea. All in all, if I decide to make these again, I am going to have to dial the flavors way up.

The last couple weeks have been really rough for me, with wedding issues, health issues and work issues I sometimes feel like i’m going to be stuck in this phase of my life forever. I keep assuring myself that one way or another everything will get better; and at the very least the wedding is only three months so there is an end to some of the insanity in sight.

One of my favorite de-stressing techniques is to bake, but since I am, by order of my “lady doctor” on a extremely strict weight loss plan I am trying to find other constructive outlets for my frustration. Not being able to eat the fruits or pastries (as the case my be) of my labor is a bit of a downer. That being said, if I was allowed to bake, it would definitely be a sugar cookie kind of day. So here is an quick and easy cookie recipe that will hopefully brighten your day.

In a small bowl, mix together flour, baking soda, and baking powder then set aside.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in egg and vanilla. Gradually blend in the dry ingredients. Roll rounded teaspoonfuls of dough into balls, and place onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden. Let stand on cookie sheet two minutes before removing to cool on wire racks.

*If you’re having a really bad day I would recommend adding some sprinkles before you bake the cookies, sprinkles seem to make everything a little happier.